McCollum: NFL should follow NBA's lead on racial issues

Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum is once again urging the NFL and Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder to change the name of the football team, saying the league should follow the example set by the NBA in its handling of LA Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling’s racist comments.

“The National Basketball Association is setting the standard for dealing with intolerance, racism and hate speech in professional sports. They showed that when a wealthy owner promotes racist ideas a league and its other owners can act swiftly to condemn that behavior,” McCollum said in a statement.

“It is my hope that the National Football League and its owner will follow suit and do everything in their power to ensure that the racist name of their Washington franchise is changed.”

As co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, McCollum has led efforts to pressure Snyder to change the team name.

Last November, McCollum she joined members of the American Indian Movement to protest the team name when the Redskins traveled to Minnesota to play the Vikings. The team returns to Minnesota to face the Vikings on Nov. 2, the Sunday before Election Day.

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